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Action around Australia for Anti-Poverty Weeks

For the first time in its 21-year history, Anti-Poverty Week will run for two weeks from 15-27 October, incorporating Children’s Week.

Anti-Poverty Week was extended due to the referendum on a Voice to Parliament.

“We begin the weeks with heavy hearts, grieving the outcome of the referendum with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and respect their call for a week of silence on the referendum.” said Anti-Poverty Week Executive Director Toni Wren.

During Anti-Poverty Weeks, leading academics, policy-makers and community organisations will shed light on poverty in Australia and how to end it, especially child poverty, with a range of webinars, community barbeques, information expos and research report launches. In Canberra and Adelaide key landmarks will light up in blue.

“It’s not right that 1 in 6 Australian children (more than 760,000 children) live in poverty and 1.3 million children live in households experiencing hunger, with children of single mothers at highest risk,” said Ms Wren.

“We believe Australia should follow the lead of New Zealand and create legislation to commit to end child poverty with measurable targets and actions and invite people to sign our petition calling on our Federal Government to create a Child Poverty Reduction Act.”

Our concerns in relation to poverty and disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and their children are our outlined in our Briefing: Key Issues Relating to Indigenous Poverty & Disadvantage, 6/9/23; and Opeds: Voice debate must focus on facts in final week; 6/10/23 and How the Voice will help end poverty for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, 7/9/23.

To help the Australian community understand poverty, we have also updated our Fast Facts on Poverty in Australia, Child & Family Poverty,  Poverty and Housing and Women, Violence and Poverty.

Key reports to be released:

Key Events:

Four webinars focusing on child poverty:

  • Why does Australia continue to accept Child Poverty – and what can be done about it?– WEBINAR (and in person event) hosted by Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, Melbourne, 16/10/23.
  • Ending Child Poverty in Australia WEBINAR – hosted by Brotherhood of St Laurence, 19/10/23.
  • Combatting child poverty in Australia: what are the challenges and how can we overcome them? WEBINAR – hosted by the Centre for Community Child Health. 19/10/23.
  • Play, participation & poverty- How our policies can create fairer, healthier futures for children & young people WEBINAR hosted by NAPCAN, 23/10/23.

Other key events:

See full calendar of 40 events across all states and territories here

In 2023, Anti-Poverty Week is sponsored by:
Brotherhood of St Laurence; Berry Street; St Vincent de Paul Society, The Smith Family; Anglicare Australia; Mission Australia; Uniting Vic/Tas; The Life Course Centre – ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course; UnitingCare Australia; The Salvation Army; Australian Education Union (Federal); Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.

National Facilitating Group:
Co-Chairs: Eileen Baldry AO, Professor of Criminology, UNSW Sydney; Simon Schrapel AM, CEO Uniting Communities.  Members: Travers McLeod, Executive Director, Brotherhood of St Laurence; Kasy Chambers, CEO Anglicare Australia; Claerwen Little, National Director Uniting Care Australia; Michael Perusco, CEO Berry Street.

2023 State/Territory Co-Chairs include: ACT: ACTCOSS, Volunteering ACT; NT: Mission Australia; NSW Older Women’s Network NSW, Wayside Chapel; QLD: NAPCAN; SA: Commissioner for Children and Young People SA, Baptist Care SA; TAS: Uniting Vic.Tas , Vinnies Tasmania; VIC: Uniting Vic/Tas; Family Care Shepparton; WA: Centre Care WA, Foodbank WA.